International Women’s Day (IWD) is such a wonderful event to have in the calendar. It’s a time when the world can throw a spotlight on women’s rights movement, and celebrate what has been achieved (whether that’s socially, culturally or politically) and what still needs to be done.
But have you ever wondered how it all started? Well, the very first IWD was honoured in 1911. It followed a few years of women becoming more and more vocal and active about their oppression and inequality. In the same year, a terrible fire that claimed the lives of 140 working women in New York City drew attention to working conditions. The women’s movement was on the rise – and IWD went from strength to strength.
In 1974, IWD was recognised by the United Nations and then, in 1996, the UN unveiled the first ‘theme’. It was “Celebrating the past, Planning for the Future”. Other themes followed, including “Women at the Peace Table”, “Women and Human Rights” and “World Free of Violence Against Women”.
The movement shifted up a gear in 2001 when it became apparent that there was still so much work to be done to raise awareness, and battles to be fought. That year saw the launch of the internationalwomensday.com platform, and IWD gained a momentum never before seen with wider, more strategic themes.
Today, IWD is recognised by many as the benchmark for women’s activism – and an inspirational platform for the next generation. This year’s IWD has the theme #EmbraceEquity. Pretty motivating we think. It’s a reminder that being treated fairly isn’t a luxury, but a basic human right, whatever your gender. And supporting that should be top of everyone’s list. But how do we ‘embrace equity’? Well, it’s so much more than what we want, it’s how we live our lives every day.
In honour of this special day, we wanted to shoutout some amazing and inspiring women who are part of the DeskLodge community:
Serrie of Women’s Tech Hub who has been organising events to encourage women in STEM all across Bristol since 2019
Meg of Run Talk Run, who provides a space for people to exercise and chat every week since 2021
Daisy of Ascent who organised the food bank with us at Christmas for local charities . She only joined us in August 2022 but has made a big impression.
Tara of Blue Frontier who organises bake sales for Macmillan Coffee Morning every year at DeskLodge since Jan 2022
Michelle of Minx PR who spends her spare time rehabilitating rescue shire horses.
A big round of applause for all these inspirational ladies!
We can all do our bit and challenge one dimensional stereo types, and calling out discrimination when we see it. We can also draw attention to bias, and urge inclusion. And we can inspire the women around us, whether they’re part of the DeskLodge family or not. But we all have to do it, as one. We have to #EmbraceEquity together. Of course, International Women’s Day is just that; a single day. The work we do to destroy discrimination, bias and stereotypes needs to be all year round. We hope you have a great International Women’s Day!
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